Budget cuts won't affect food safety inspections

12:52 PM,
May 3, 2013

A worker washes romaine lettuce in Salinas, Calif,. on Aug. 26, 2007.

Written by

Elizabeth Weise
USA TODAY

The Food and Drug Administration will not reduce food inspections because of budget cuts, despite warning last week it could be forced to eliminate thousands of inspections by Sept. 30.

"Our goal is to absorb the cuts without a risk to public health. We are working to manage the budget reductions through other mechanisms," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said.

Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told USA TODAY editors and reporters on April 25 that the agency originally had feared it could be forced to cut as many as 2,100 inspections -- 18% of the annual total -- by Sept. 30 because of the mandated ...